refrigerator fan

[swamperk]

this might be a funny question,,when running the refigerator on electricty,,,does the fan has to be turn on,,,or if you running gas it has to be trun on,,i been running the refigerator without turning the fan on with electricty,,,just asking

[TrailManorMan]

Not a funny question at all.
I run mine on hot days but usually off at night. It aids in the cooling cycle as it vents the heat made as cooling is happening.
You need to decide what is best for your frig. Experience will tell you!

[Larryjb]

In general, if you are going to run the fridge when the trailer closed, there is very poor air circulation removing heat from the fridge, so the fan is necessary in this situation. However, many of us just put some frozen ice packs in the fridge compartment when travelling during the day and don't bother with running the fridge while travelling.

All in all, I rarely use the fridge fan, but it can help with cooling the fridge.

[tentcamper]

I run my vent fan somewhere when the temps are north of 90 degrees. If I could remember to turn it off at night I would. I also, turn down the temp setting, so at night the fridge might get a chance to go into the low 30's.

Also,when temps are above 85 degreed we try to keep it full, even if its just water bottles. This keeps less air flowing in when the door is open and creates a larger cool thermal mass.

Working the fridge this way the fridge does not get north of 45 degrees untill it's in the 100 degree range.

[swamperk]

ok thanks guys off my mind,,

[tentcamper]

The only time the vent has to be run is when you are running the fridge in any mode and the shells are down. This is normaly when traveling. The vent fan must be on.

[cjminear]

Has anybody had an issue with the fridge staying cold while traveling with it set to battery fridge vent fan on?

[Stephene1219]

I have a new 2722 and am getting ready to do my first trip starting this weekend, I have spent the last few months making a lot of mods and adding 500 watts of solar. In getting ready to leave I flashed to the refrigerator. Had never thought about how to mange during towing.

This thread is the most current I could find and Bili indicates that you should just turn off the frig when down and towing. My longest driving time will be less than 4 hours. Is this still the best way to go. The retrig has plenty of room for me and I plan on using it has my primary cooling source for my food.

[rich2468]

Originally Posted by Stephene1219

I have a new 2722 and am getting ready to do my first trip starting this weekend, I have spent the last few months making a lot of mods and adding 500 watts of solar. In getting ready to leave I flashed to the refrigerator. Had never thought about how to mange during towing.

This thread is the most current I could find and Bili indicates that you should just turn off the frig when down and towing. My longest driving time will be less than 4 hours. Is this still the best way to go. The retrig has plenty of room for me and I plan on using it has my primary cooling source for my food.

If I recall correctly you have a newer TrailManor with the 3 way frig (Gas/AC electric/ DC electric)...with that being the case you may be able to use DC electric with no problems during your 4 hour tow.

I said "may" because I don't know your TrailManor's battery capacity or if you're headed to an electrical hookup campsite or to boondock.

Have you upgraded your battery capacity? If you haven't and are traveling without a high amount of sunshine, you may significantly or completely deplete your stock (lead acid) battery by the time you get to your campsite.

If your destination has electric hookups available, discharging your TrailManor's battery significantly during the tow won't matter (as they will recharge from the converter when on shore power). If it doesn't, you may arrive at your destination with little battery power for lights, the refrigerator vent fan, and water pump.

If you're traveling on a sunny day, your 500 Watts of solar charge capacity may offset your refrigerator DC electrical usage.

I currently have 600 Watts of solar panel capacity along with 210 Amp Hours battery capacity and am often able to exceed my refrigerator power use (and charge my battery bank) while towing, but I still precool the TrailManor's refrigerator before towing using propane or shore power (AC power) usually so that I arrive at my campsite with as full a battery bank as possible.

One important thing to remember about using your refrigerator on the DC setting when towing-
If you exceed your TrailManor's battery capacity during your tow, the refrigerator will draw power from your tow vehicle. That's not normally a problem unless you turn the tow vehicle off (while the TrailManor continues to draw power for the frig) and park long enough to deplete the tow vehicle battery. Unplug the Bergman connection from the TrailManor when parking for any length of time (when the fridge is set to DC mode) unless you have added TM battery capacity.

***Quite important (as others have pointed out) is the fact that depleting the TrailManor's battery also impacts the trailer's break-away braking system...so it would not be able to function properly in an emergency.

If you've invested in a battery shunt with bluetooth capabilities you should be able to monitor your TrailManor's battery status from time to time to see the live drain from the refrigerator. If you've left your battery on the tongue you may be able to check via bluetooth while inside your tow vehicle.

I would ensure that you have a means to monitor your battery before attempting more than a couple of hours tow using refrigerator AC power mode.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by rich2468

If your destination has electric hookups available, discharging your TrailManor's battery significantly during the tow won't matter (as they will recharge from the converter when on shore power).

Be a little careful here. Discharging a lead-acid battery below 50% capacity will significantly damage it. New TMs are often equipped with a Group 24 or Group 27 dual purpose (aka Deep Cycle/Marine) battery installed by the dealer. These batteries have a capacity of about 70 amp-hours, so about 35 amp-hours is actually usable. On DC, the refrigerator uses 11-12 amps (about 150 watts), so the usable life of the battery is about 3 hours, ignoring any other power consumers that may be on. So if you leave the refrig turned on while you drive, you must stop after 3 hours, open the TM, and turn it off.

As noted, if you have a significant solar capacity operating while you drive, that will extend your time. Larger batteries will contribute to extended run time. Lithium batteries are better. But none of these is part of the basic TM configuration.

Surprisingly, the +12VDC line from most tow vehicles will actually contribute very little to the situation.

For that reason, my advise is to cool the refrig completely before you begin to drive, then turn it off. It acts as a well-insulated cooler, so you can go for considerably more than 3 hours before significant warming occurs.

Bill